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I’m low level aggravated with NCL most of the time for other reasons, but my sole complaint about Bliss is that the Escape has a superior buffet for some reason.

I agree there! The layout of the buffet on the Escape is SO MUCH better. On the Bliss, it is disorganized chaos. Also, the Escape has a far superior late night snack. I don't often eat meals in the buffet (an occasional breakfast or lunch, never dinner), but I eat late night snack every day and the one on the Bliss is a true disappointment.

14 hours ago, waterjock said:

I have been on the Bliss twice the observation lounge is the best area to relax and enjoy the view. The shows on Bliss are the best of any NCL ship.

Have you seen Choir of Man on the Escape or Encore yet? It's definitely better than Jersey Boys and Six (though both of those are good as well).

To the OP, I have sailed on the Bliss twice now and have a B2B booked next month. While I prefer the Escape, the Bliss is a great ship with a lot to offer. I am not sure what your specific concerns are, but you shouldn't worry. As long as you go in with a good attitude, you will enjoy your trip. The main thing you are likely to get frustrated by is overcrowding and lack of seating in certain areas.

Edited February 20 by JamieLogical

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We cruise 5-6 times a year splitting our time between NCL and Royal. We have sailed on the Bliss and she is an amazing ship. Compared to the Breakaway, Getaway, and Escape, NCL elected to remove 1/3 of the rooms on Deck 15 and create a luxury lounge space called the Observation Lounge. WHAT???? Take revenue generating rooms and suites and turn it into public space,,,, unheard of.

The ship has the latest restaurants and bars. Built for Alaska, it has heated outside areas, pools, and water features for the cold northeast.

It is not your "only option for spring break with your son", it is the "best option".

IMO Race Track is the second worst waste of precious deck space on a cruise ship I have ever seen (the Encore being the worst).

Theater shows: thorough disappointment. "Jersey Boys" were boring (strictly subjective, it's hard to watch any musical on a cruise ship after Mamma Mia). Hovever the Havana show was... Oh my, compared with the fantastic Burn the Floor, it was looking like a cheesy show I never expected on NCL.

On the positive side:

Thermal spa was superb.

Loved the observation lounge in the Haven (best Haven experience on NCL ships).

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Just got off the Bliss; it was not an enjoyable cruise. Way too many people for too small spaces. Entertainment every night in the atrium is fun, but don't expect to be able to get a seat. Same with the Beatles Experience. Food was mediocre except in the specialty restaurants, and service was poor in Savor/Taste/Manhattan Room. Passengers were rude, and the elevator situation? Let's just say that's where the rudeness really becomes evident. The best part of the cruise was "The Jersey Boys" and the aforementioned "Beatles Experience". They need to figure out a way to enlarge the Cavern Club so that more than 70 people can enjoy that show. Lesson learned: stick with the smaller ships that can handle the number of passengers on board.

I cruised her in December and agree with your points the Cavern Club is way too small for the number of people on the ship you need to get there at least an hour before showtime and same with the atrium. Service could be crazy slow in Savor/Taste/Manhattan so if you need to get somewhere at a certain time tell them at the beginning of the meal. Book your shows as early as you can when you board the ship but if you can't get a reservation turn up for

standby it always worked for us we never didn't get in. My worst complaint on the ship was disembarkation got thereat 8am for self disembarkation and there were lines for miles mostly people who were other colours the crew did nothing about it and they just got off and were pissed when their luggage was not available. It made things difficult for the staff in the terminal and also for people who were legitimately walking off. I am sure people missed their flights that morning I entered the line at 8 and wasn't off till 9:30. Hopefully they got feedback from the terminal and started policing the lineups. But despite that was a good cruise and enjoyed all the entertainment despite all

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The special restaurants were all good except the Mexican one that was real bad.

Some areas were small and crowded though.

The only thing with younger active cruisers is there are no active out door activities like basketball volley ball and stuff like that my son said it was his least favorite ship because of this . The top deck is all race track and laser tag there is only so many times you would want to do that and pay for it.

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The special restaurants were all good except the Mexican one that was real bad.

I liked Los Lobos for the most part on my Dec cruise, esp the guac made table side. The only complaint I had were the entrees. I thought both times I went that they were terrible and I left comment card notes on them at the end. I don't think I've have a more flavorless enchilada in my life. 😵 But the soup, appetizers, sides, and desserts I had were yummy IMO.

To me, Q had the more questionable food overall. My entree was fine but everything else was bland to bad and I love BBQ / southern comfort food in general. Q did its best to change my love to hate.

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My only real complaints about Bliss is the race track (much prefer ropes course on both the free and I think it's more fun) and that it has Sugarcane over Shakers. But that's cuz I can't drink mojitos and miss a martini bar. Oh and for some reason they never turned the heaters on the waterfront (at least when I was out there) during my Alaska cruise which was very annoying.

Yes, but you only gave the passenger count of Breakaway & Bliss to "prove" that the Bliss didn't take away cabins (which is what @BirdTravels said) . Except the Bliss is a Breakaway Plus ship (of which the Breakaway is not) so passenger count to prove that the Bliss did in fact take away cabins should be to another Breakaway Plus ship without the Observation Lounge which is the Escape. Which does have more passengers than Bliss.

Bliss is 23,000GT larger than the Breakaway, but it's less than 4,000GT more than Escape (probably because of the race track!) which again shows why Bliss' passenger count should not be compared to Breakaway.

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The worst reviews I’ve ever seen for a newer ship but it’s my only option for spring break with my son at last minute. Looking forward to any Hope it will be a decent cruise

Ignore them!!!

Excellent!

We’ve never ever had so much fun! 2/2/20 14 blissful nights of dancing. Amazing dancing opportunities. Excellent activities staff. Whether you drink or not the bars are excellent. Sugarcane mojitos bar was amazing dancing. Social club late night party. If your son is of age to drink beer he will be in heaven. Lone star beer in Q bbq with country music. Brew pub bar with craft beers and Pacifico beer. Mojitos bar with ginger mojitos. Margarita bar. But the bands are excellent.

Activities staff were amazing. Many different theme parties. 50’s 70’s Latin dancing island party country western.............

Enjoy.

With my Fitbit I hit 26,000 steps dancing one day/night.And average was 20,000.

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The worst reviews I’ve ever seen for a newer ship but it’s my only option for spring break with my son at last minute. Looking forward to any Hope it will be a decent cruise

Just got off Bliss on a sold out cruise, really like the setup for the most part. Definitely like the pool deck layout better than Breakaway. Would go on again without any reservations. Except for the pool deck some afternoons, never felt too crowded, except the Atrium, with shows going on and people at the bar, and the customer service desks.

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Yes, but the Bliss is a Breakaway Plus ship. So it should be compared to Escape (the first Breakway Plus) at 4,266.

Yes. And NCL has given 262 revenue generating rooms to make additional public space. 1/3 of Deck 15 which are rooms on the Escape have been turned into lovely public space which is much better utilized by a wider demographic, day and night, than the Spice on the Escape. So it is a trade. Give up some deck space (about 1/6th a deck) for the spice and create an expansive lounge space used by more people. Providing breakfast and lunch alternatives. Providing live lounge music at night. Providing space for gatherings.

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Sailed last August and absolutely was blown away with the observation lounge and the ship overall. I didn’t think I’d enjoy the go karts and loved them. The laser tag is sort of a waste, but the restaurants, casino, outdoor decks, buffet, and jersey boys were all satisfying. And the thermal spa made that vacation!!!! This is a perfect ship for Alaska.

IMO Race Track is the second worst waste of precious deck space on a cruise ship I have ever seen (the Encore being the worst).

Theater shows: thorough disappointment. "Jersey Boys" were boring (strictly subjective, it's hard to watch any musical on a cruise ship after Mamma Mia). Hovever the Havana show was... Oh my, compared with the fantastic Burn the Floor, it was looking like a cheesy show I never expected on NCL.

On the positive side:

Thermal spa was superb.

Loved the observation lounge in the Haven (best Haven experience on NCL ships).

The public Observation lounge was beautiful.

Happy cruising!

The Laser Tag takes up way too much space and didn't see too many people using it last week.

Liked the kids pool being next to the bar, easy perch to watch the kids from.

Jersey Boys was good enough, but not as good as Rock of Ages

Missed having a basketball court and full mini golf

Observation Deck was very cool, wish it had more than one bar setup though

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I was on the Bliss a few weeks ago. It is really large and lots of walking is needed. I agree the elevator situation could be better--but just use some patience and/or use the stairs a bit if you can. Not a big complaint for me. But I think she is an absolutely gorgeous ship and well laid out. Staff were amazing everywhere I went, only ate in specialty restaurants but really good everywhere (with a few small misses). The people were fine, I did not notice any particular rudeness. It was a happy place and a lot of fun.

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Loved the Bliss! Took the last cruise out of NYC for a while (3/8/20). It was a wonderful cruise in every respect: friendly, welcoming crew, very clean and beautiful ship, stellar entertainment. We loved Jersey Boys, Six, the Beatles tribute band and all the other entertainment. Familiar Strangers and the comedian Clinton Jackson were standouts. We had great service in the restaurants and at the bars. Loved the food in the beautiful dining rooms.

Despite the upheaval all around the world this past week, we were able to relax and enjoy every day on this ship.

This was my son’s first cruise, and I think I have made him a fan for life.

When cruising starts again, definitely go on the Bliss. I believe you will have a wonderful experience.

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I love the Bliss hull design. I think I prefer the Joy, because the pool deck is so open, and because "Footloose" is much more interesting than the other 'greatest hits/how they made it big' shows, and the other magic/Cirque du Soleil show was also impressive. I was on it last year just after it was redone for the US market, and it was really the most beautiful ship I've been on, especially the observation lounge area. There was a special moment when we were about to leave Juneau on the Joy and the Bliss sailed right past us to take our berth spot, and all the chefs and other crew came out to wave to their friends. If and when cruising resumes, I'll look forward to trying the Bliss or Joy on a Mexican trip.

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We were on the Bliss for two weeks in February. We thought this was our favorite cruise. The entertainment was the best we've experienced, our favorites being The Beatles Experience, country band from Las Vegas at Q and Sligo the rock band. Yes you had to get to Cavern club early to get a seat but it was designed to give you that intimate club experience. The food was better than normal. We were very happy that we could eat at Q and Ocean Blue with our dining plan. Both new to us and delicious!

The staff were very friendly and professional. Loved the Observation Lounge and this is where I agree with others to the point that people are sleeping on couches and many bear feet on furniture. The only rainy day during our cruise the lounge was filled up and so many individuals taking up an entire couch while others reserving chairs and furniture with pool towels for hours....

With the full ship we always found a table at buffet. On other ships we avoided eating there since we had to walk around and around to find a table. We had little trouble with elevators but we do take the stairs a lot. We would go on the Bliss again in a heartbeat.